Where Back to the Future cast are now as Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd reunite – from age gap love to bitter battle
IT was the highest grossing film of 1985, has generations of fans and even inspired the name of boy band McFly.
And this weekend Back to the Future fans were reduced to tears by the emotional reunion of the film’s leads, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, after 37 years.
The pair – who played Marty McFly and Dr Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown – appeared at a ComicCon event in New York and talked about their “instant chemistry” on set.
They also shared an emotional hug in front of an audience of devoted fans.
The film, which saw teenager Marty go back in time to 1955 and accidentally scupper his own parents’ romance, spawned two sequels, an animated series and a stage musical.
From an age gap marriage to a bitter legal battle with the film’s producers, here’s what happened to the rest of the time travelling cast.
Michael J. Fox – Marty McFly
Michael was drafted in to replace original actor Eric Stoltz as teenager Marty, after several weeks of filming, when creator Bob Gale and director Robert Zemeckis decided he had been miscast.
Already a star from the sitcom Family Ties, the Canadian actor went on to star in 1987’s Teen Wolf and The Secret of My Success and the 1991 hit Doc Hollywood.
Tragically, in 1991, the star was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the degenerative neural condition, at just 29.
He continued to act in such roles as The American President and the Tim Burton classic Mars Attacks! as well as starring in the TV sitcom Spin City.
Seven years after his devastating diagnosis, he went public with his health battle and, as his symptoms worsened, he moved to voice roles, playing Stuart Little in the hit franchise and the lead in the animation A.R.C.H.I.E.
He fronted his own show, The Michael J. Fox Show, in 2013, and guest-starred in many TV shows including The Good Wife.
The actor, now 61, became an advocate for research in Parkinson’s and set up the Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000, with the aim of finding a cure.
He has been married to Tracy Pollan, who he met on the set of Family Ties, since 1988 and they have four kids.
Christopher Lloyd – Doc Brown
The eccentric inventor remains one of Christopher Lloyd’s most iconic roles, in a career that has spanned six decades.
Already well-known for his role as a drug-addled driver in the hit series Taxi, he went on to star as the evil Judge Doom in Who Killed Roger Rabbit and Uncle Fester in the 1993 movie, Addams Family Values.
Now 83, he continues to take small roles and voiceovers, and has recently joined the cast of Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, with Simon Pegg and Minnie Driver.
In 2008, Christopher was devastated when his £6million mansion in Montecito, California, was destroyed by wildfire that swept the San Fernando valley.
The actor has been married five times and has no children.
He met his current wife Lisa Loiacono, who at 52 is 31 years his junior, when she acted as estate agent on another house on his plot in Montecito, in 2012.
Lea Thompson – Lorraine Baines-McFly
Lea Thompson played past, present, and future versions of Marty’s mother, Lorraine Baines-McFly.
In the 1955 timeline, she becomes infatuated with Marty after he’s knocked down by a car which was meant to hit future dad George – meaning the very existence of the family is at threat.
After the movie, Lia starred in SpaceCamp and the bizarre 1996 flop Howard the Duck, which saw her join forces with a life-sized bird to save the world from an alien attack.
Critically slammed, Lea has since claimed it has cult status and says she meets fans at conventions for Back to the Future.
“I sit there and I meet the fans, and a good one-third of them say ‘I am the only person who liked ‘Howard the Duck’. It’s hilarious,” she says.
The actress, now 61, reprised the role of Lorraine in both Back to the Future sequels and had the title role in the award-winning sitcom Caroline in the City, from 1995 to 1999.
She has also appeared in the hit comedy The Goldbergs, as well as playing Marmee in the 2018 movie Little Women.
In 2014, she made the quarter finals of Dancing with the Stars, paired with former Strictly champ Artem Chigvintsev.
Married to Pretty in Pink director Howard Deutch, since 1989, she has two daughters, Madelyn and Zoey Deutch, who are both actors.
Crispin Glover – George McFly
The New Yorker played Marty’s geeky, bullied dad George in the first movie but was left seething with rage when he was replaced by an unknown actor, Jason Weissman, who wore a false chin, nose and cheekbones to play the role in the second film.
To mask the actors’ differing appearances, Weissman was often filmed skulking in the background or wearing shades, then footage was combined with existing clips of Crispin to make it look like he was still in the film.
In 1990, Crispin successfully sued the producers on the grounds that they had used his likeness without permission and had not paid him for the reuse of the footage from the original film.
The actor, now 58, was awarded £690,000 in a case which resulted in the Screen Actor Guild banning similar practices, now known as Fake Shremp.
In 1987, he made a controversial appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, wearing platform heels and a wig and behaving erratically, causing the host to walk off set after the actor almost kicked him in the face.
As well as acting in mainstream movies, including Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Alice in Wonderland, he began to release music and also started a company, Volcanic Eruptions, to make his own art movies.
In 2001, he bought a 17th century castle in Prague which he rents out on AirBnB when he’s not home.
He dated model Alexa Lauren for two years, from 2001, but has never married.
Claudia Wells – Jennifer Parker
Claudia played Marty’s girlfriend in the original film, in a breakthrough role which promised her a bright future
But she was replaced by Elisabeth Shue in the sequels, and later revealed she turned down a return to the role because her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was losing the battle.
She took a break from acting to nurse her in her final months.
“Life was very, very difficult and stressful. I just didn’t have it in me to do anything but deal with the stress and the emotions that were going on as a result of my mum being in the process of dying,” she says.
“I just wasn’t in a place to be able to think about my career or the film or anything other than what I was doing with my own life.”
Claudia, 56, returned to acting in 2008 and reprised the role of Jennifer on the BTTF video games.
She also runs an LA designer menswear store, Armani Wells, which she opened in 1991.
Wendie J. Sperber – Linda McFly
Wendie starred as Marty’s older sister in all three movies but previously had roles in Wanna Hold Your Hand and Bachelor Party.
She went on to star in numerous TV series, including Women in Prison and Babes.
The mum-of-two was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and four years later she founded the weSPARK Cancer Support Center, for families affected by the illness.
Tragically, she lost her cancer battle in 2005, at the age of 47.
Thomas F. Wilson – Biff Tannen
Thomas played George’s bully – both at school and in his adult workplace – in the movie and returned in the sequels playing Biff, his grandson Griff and his great grandfather Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen.
He went to star in TV show Freaks and Geeks and has voiced numerous animations, including the series and movies of Spongebob Squarepants, since 2001.
A man of many talents, Tom is also a stand-up comedian whose routine includes Biff’s Question Song – a spoof on the repetitive questions he gets asked about Back to the Future.
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He’s also a YouTube vlogger, as well as painting in his spare time.
A devout Catholic, he released a contemporary Christian album in 2000 called In the Name of the Father.
He has been married to wife Caroline Thomas since 1985 and they have four children.